The present invention relates to skate wheels, and more particularly, to a skate wheel for use on roller skates, skateboards, and the like, which includes interchangeable, decorative spacers.
Roller skates and skateboards have been in common use for many years. Skate wheels for use on skates and skateboards are typically rotatably mounted on axles and include bearing assemblies. However, the exposed wheel well area of such a skate wheel is somewhat unsightly due to the appearance of the axle nut and bearings, and detracts from the overall appearance of the roller skate or skateboard.
Many attempts have been made to improve the appearance of skate wheels by, for example, installing a decorative cover over the external wheel well area. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,511,182 and 6,454,361. Such covers may be provided with a number of different designs to improve the appearance of the wheel. However, covers of this sort are purely decorative in nature, and provide no other function or support for the wheel.
Accordingly, there is still a need for an improved decorative cover which improves the appearance of a skate wheel, as well as providing support to the wheel.